Stargazers

. o .

He found her on the outskirts of the forest they'd camped in for the night, her long legs dangling absently over an outstretched tree branch. Vincent felt his lips curve into a tiny smile as his ears picked up the sound of the lullaby she was humming. Keeping quiet, he edged forward to listen, not wanting to disrupt her hard-won moment of peace, although he wondered how she managed to scale the tree. He'd seen Cid heal her earlier that day, the pilot's expression unusually grim as he applied a healing ointment to the gash in her leg.

Deciding not to intrude further, he turned on his heel, and cursed his metallic boots as they clinked against a protruding rock.

This caused Tifa to wobble dangerously on the limb she was sitting upon as her head spun around, and what he thought could have been his heart stopped. If she fell…

But she didn't, steadying herself and setting her eyes on him. "I'm fine, Vincent. You just… startled me, that's all."

Bowing his head, Vincent took a step backwards. "I did not mean to intrude, Tifa; I was sent to find you in order to stop Yuffie's incessant questions. Now that I have…"

Laughing, Tifa extended one arm towards him. "Now that you have, why don't you stay? I don't mind the company."

Stiffening, Vincent shook his head. "I could not impose." Despite his words, he took one step forward.

Taking this as encouragement, Tifa's smile warmed, and she added. "Come up, and I can show you the stars. You can see so many from here…" To her surprise, he was beside her before she could add anything more, settling the chaotic folds of his cloak as he sat, leaning cautiously against the trunk. "Cheater," she admonished. "You didn't climb the tree."

"I never learned," he replied evenly, glad that his cloak hid his slight grin. Her eyes were almost comically wide, but her scheming smile soon chased his away.

"I'll have to teach you someday, then."

As her playful poke on his shoulder brought her dangerously close to him, Vincent coughed, and pointed over her shoulder. "Isn't that the Lyre, those seven stars?"

Tifa turned to look in the direction his hand indicated. "It could be, but we always called it the Jester, when I was a child." Just then, a cold wind caught about the tips of her hair, and she shivered, wishing she had changed into a long shirt too before wandering away from the campfire.

"You're cold," he observed.

"I'll be all right," she replied, knowing he was right. Hoping to distract them both, Tifa pointed to the east. "What of that one, the "W" above those trees?"

"Cassiope," Vincent replied. "Proud Cassiope, of the ancient people…"

Rubbing her hands together, Tifa smiled. "It's a beautiful name…"

"She was a beautiful woman," Vincent replied, but his eyes darted quickly to the woman at his side. Looking once more at the horizon, he continued. "She was a queen who lived long ago, or so the legend says."

"I'm glad I can see her, then. I'd forgotten how beautiful the sky is in the country, really. It was never the same in Midgar. Night wasn't night there; not really, under that plate. Not even close to how it is here."

His expression wistful, he added, "I too, had forgotten," but trailed off as he felt her hand on his shoulder.

Claret eyes sorrowful, Tifa apologized. "I didn't mean to…" she said, softly.

"No matter." Avoiding her sceptical gaze, his eyebrows shot up to his bandanna as, in her next movement, Tifa Lockheart leant gently against his side.

Looking up, Tifa smiled carefully. "You make a good wind-block?"

"Hmmph. Your plan outs itself, I see." It was true. Technically. But he didn't shy away; rather the opposite, lifting the left corner of his cloak and draping it slightly around her trembling shoulders.

"You don't need to, Vincent…"

"No," he replied lowly. "But what if the wind were to change direction?" Unusual humour lighting his expression, he chanced a glance at her. For one of the first times in the time he'd known her, Tifa seemed uncertain of how to react. Hoping to snap her out of her daze, he continued. "I would… I would hardly be worthy of your company if I caused you to freeze."

Back on familiar ground, Tifa chuckled. "All right, then." Feeling his shoulder relax, Tifa pointed towards a smaller constellation just to the south of what Vincent had called Cassiope. "What about that one, then?"

Pausing for a moment, Vincent recalled his early days at the Junon academy where he'd been schooled in astronomy. This one was proving difficult to recall, but… "Draco," he offered carefully, unprepared for the brilliant smile that lit her face.

"We called it the Dragon, too," she said, her gaze distant. "I used to make wishes on its tail when I was a child."

Enjoying both her story and her company, Vincent set his eyes on the horizon. He, too, had forgotten how beautiful the night sky could be, and after the last handful of weeks spent in vicious battle or in the chaos of various cities, this was an excellent alternative. Carefully, Vincent tucked one arm behind Tifa's back, not close enough for contact, but close enough to ensure that she could not fall off the branch.

She paused in her story long enough to send him a curious look, but when met with his inscrutable expression and a fraction of a nod, she continued…

. o .

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours later that Cloud Strife walked into that same clearing. At first, his footsteps were quiet and confident, seeing the moonlight dance off of Tifa's hair, which was left loose to tangle in the autumn wind.

His steps slowed, however, as he caught sight of the flash of crimson wrapped around her, and heard a reply to her words in a rusty baritone. Frozen by the sight of the martial artist as she tossed her hair and laughed, Cloud frowned, but his frown turned into a rueful smile as the warmth in her laughter – and, oddly enough, that of her companion – reached him.

Slipping past the pine boughs, back into the forest, Cloud nodded. Love suited her; he'd always known it.

Now, it looked like she did, too.

. o .

…finis…

. o .

Sabe's Scribbles: In many ways, this is for Tijuana Pirate, because she completed the other half of the challenge, and for everyone else from FF7 who has smiled ruefully as I've traipsed through other fandoms (and kept reading; you all don't know how much that means to me. Thank you.)

Disclaimer: This occurs under OGC (Original Game Canon) although Vincent's deliciously dry sense of humour was proven in AC. Nothing here belongs to me aside from the storyline; Square's got these characters locked down pretty solidly, I believe…